A Treatise on the Plague and Yellow Fever: With an Appendix, containing histories of the plague at Athens in the time of the Peloponnesian War; at Constantinople in the time of Justinian; at London in 1665; at Marseilles in 1720Tytler, James
History
A Treatise on the Plague and Yellow Fever: With an Appendix, containing histories of the plague at Athens in the time of the Peloponnesian War; at Constantinople in the time of Justinian; at London in 1665; at Marseilles in 1720
Tytler, James
Plague -- Early works to 1800; Yellow fever -- Early works to 1800
On this Dr. Patrick Russel observes, that the account of Aleppo being
visited only once in ten or twelve years is confirmed by a letter from
an English gentleman, in 1719, who had resided there for 30 years. The
dates of the plagues which Dr. Patrick had procured were, 1719, 1729
and 1733. Another began in 1742, and terminated in 1744; from which
time there was no return till 1757 or 1758, when it continued at Aleppo
till 1762, and did not entirely quit the country till 1764. The plague
of 1719 was said to come from the northward, but this appeared to want
confirmation; but all accounts agree that it raged at Tripoli, Sidon,
&c. two months before it appeared in Aleppo. Egypt was ravaged by the
plague in 1728, as was also Byass and the neighbouring parts in the
same summer; and next year it appeared at Aleppo. In 1732 it raged at
Sidon, Tripoli and Damascus; next year it seized Aleppo.
Dr. Alexander goes on to inform us, that the disease never spreads much
in winter. It advances with the spring, comes to its height in June,
declines in July, and terminates in August. “None (he says) are ever
seized with in September and October, not even in the plague of 1742,
which returned three years successively;” but Dr. Patrick says that
this was not confirmed by his experience in 1760, though he owns that
the distemper declines remarkably at that period; and the natives are
greatly inclined to have it believed that the distemper has totally
ceased, and to deceive the Europeans in this respect. The times at
which the Europeans shut up and come out of their confinement show
only the increase or decrease of the disease, but not its beginning or
ending. The plague of 1719 made terrible havoc. Europeans then shut
up about the middle of March, and kept confined till the middle of
July. In 1729 they did not shut up till the middle of May, and were
not confined above a month, the number of sick being small. In 1733
they were confined from the middle of March to the middle of July,
but the distemper was less violent than in 1719. In 1742 the time of
confinement much as in 1729. In 1743 shut up April 11, and opened the
middle of July. The plague violent, but less so than in 1733. In 1744
few shut up, the number of sick being inconsiderable. In 1760 they shut
up on the 30th of June, and continued about a month. In 1761 shut up
May 28, rode out Aug. 1, and opened completely the 10th of that month.
In 1762 they were confined from the last week in May to the first of
August. From 1762 to 1787, a larger period than usual, the city was
free from the plague. In 1787 it broke out among the Jews in the month
of April, increased in May, raged violently in June, and terminated in
July.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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